FINAL BOZZETTOS #8 & #9

Sitting at the Gallery Concord yesterday, I was able to finish the bozzetto sheet. Here are the last two pieces. This is an image that I want to work with much more with texture, composition, lighting, and other ideas. Texture and mixed media will require larger formats than 5 x 7 but I am going to work with lighting next so a bozzetto sheet will work nicely. So this is my challenge for the coming month.....to develop as many ideas as I can with this image.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the American Watercolor Society website in the last day, they have finally posted the awards. There are some very exciting paintings there. I am looking forward to being able to see them and the entire show in person. Tomorrow is the official opening of the show with a big reception...food, drink, music. If you can get to New York City, it should be an exciting event.

I finally have my workshop schedule updated. You can find it on my website at www.myrnawacknov.com. The one in Ocean Shores, Washington is being held at a resort and will be like a mini vacation! If you have time in October, consider joining me there.

JUDGING AND BEING JUDGED...the Results!

Yesterday was my maiden venture into the world of judging an art exhibit. I was hoping that there would be a lot of work that would be easy to eliminate based on a lack of painting experience but the entries were of very high caliber, so I was challenged in making my decisions. I had taken along a sheet of guidelines to help me focus. The saving grace in the entire process was that many of the entrants submitted two paintings. The rule was that any individual could only receive one prize. When I was deciding between two paintings by the same person, I had an easier time. Now that I think about that, it was because I was comparing apples to apples rather than apples to oranges. Some of the variables were eliminated and I was then thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of just that particular painting. Then, when I had to assign 1st, 2nd, 3rd and honorable mentions, my own idea of hierarchy of importance of elements made the difference for my choices as opposed to what a different judge might pick.

People that are selected as judges recognize better craftsmanship, composition, color, mood, imagination, invention, interpretation, etc. etc. So, if a painting doesn't have it all in equal amounts, what becomes more important? If you have to choose between a painting that is more skillfully painted and one that is more imaginative, what wins out? At the national competition level, there are so many entries and so few spaces, skillful handling of the medium is usually a given. That said, there is always an exception or two in almost every national level show I have seen. At the local level, there is a much greater range of technical ability.

My own ideas of what is important in a painting has changed in the last few years. Like many others, I was focused on technique, technique, technique and wanted to be able to reproduce that photograph perfectly. I actually got pretty good at it in watercolor, which is no mean feat, but now I am looking for creativity and originality in my own work and rank that higher in importance in others' work, as well. So, the bottom line is that there is no way to judge others' work without personal prejudice because it is a subjective activity. After I was done, I talked about my assessment of each painting to those who were hanging the show. Hopefully, they were satisfied with the results.

The results of the judging of awards for the American Watercolor Society has been announced and I am the recipient of the CPS Medal. This was recognition beyond my wildest imaginings!! The show opens on Tuesday in New York and the awards dinner is on April 25th. I am treating my husband to an exciting trip to New York and will share a slide show upon our return.

Today I found a great check list by Tom Lynch in an old issue of International Artists magazine. I am listing the basic categories (he went into greater detail) because I think it will be useful for each of us in evaluating our own paintings. I don't know if the order is significant but you might want to arrange them in the order of importance to you. DESIGN, IMPACT AREA, MOOD/FEELING, CREATIVITY, VALUES, COMPOSITION, UNITY, CRAFSTMANSHIP, COLOR, PRESENTATION.

BOZZETTOS # 6 & #7

I am closing in on finishing the bozzetto sheet. I worked with a round brush on these two but it didn't have a point on it so I had difficulty in creating some lines I wanted in the eye area. The last one, I used my favorite brush, the Cheap Joe Lizard's Lick #4. I am loving how I can lift color off of this surface and I am getting better at getting color to stick. I took advantage of the initial beading up of the paint on the last bozzetto to create an interesting texture in the background. Now I am thinking about which one to enlarge into a full size painting. If you have a favorite, cast your vote in the comment section.

Tomorrow I will be acting as the juror for a CWA show at the Gallery Concord. This will be my first time to participate in this capacity. I am pushing myself to do something I find uncomfortable because I think it is an important growth step in my progress as an artist and teacher. I will discuss the process tomorrow. Stay tuned....

BOZZETTO #5 & WCBTO SLIDE SHOW

I like this bozzetto because it is looser and more in the spirit of color sketch exploration rather than a finished work. Why is it so difficult to relax and loosen up? I have been fussing over the others too much. I hope to stay in this less finished mode for the rest of the page.

I finally got the slide show together from the Tuesday Watercolor Beyond the Obvious class. I tried to get everyone's efforts recorded but I'm not sure if I missed someone. I foolishly didn't write down names, so I left that out. These photos do not do justice to the work but will give you an idea of the range and creativity. I was holding the camera over the paintings that were laying flat on the table. Some of the images are cut off, some are crooked, some have the shadow of my arm. With all these problems, I think you will still be excited about these wonderful paintings. Enjoy!

BOZZETTOS #3 AND #4

This has been a nice way to spend the evening after dinner. My days have been busy lately, so evening has been the best time to paint. Tonight I finished one I started last night and did another. #3 plays with warm and cool colors. It is a good example of how the skin color can be pretty arbitrary and still "read" as a particular ethnicity. #4 has a fair amount of distortion as a way to vary an image. I am changing the brush I use each night. Last night I used a "cat's tongue" shaped brush. Tonight I used a filbert (a flat with a rounded top). It is an unusual shape for a watercolor brush but fairly common for oils and acrylics.

BOZZETTO #2 Change of Value

It was a very exciting day. I went back down to San Jose for the Tuesday Class of Watercolor Beyond the Obvious. So many talented artists producing amazing series of 20 paintings. I tried to photograph the first and last of each artist. I had to hold the camera over the painting so couldn't see what was in the view finder. My arm also cast a shadow on many of the photographs. Tomorrow I will try and "fix" the photos as best I can and then create a slide show.

In the meantime, I was very inspired to go home and paint. I kept fussing with this little bozzetto. The surface is so liftable, you can rework the painting over and over. Not necessarily a great idea but so tempting. I finally decided I was satisfied with it. My idea was to change the value on the left side and loose the edge on the side of his face. I still am working with traditional skin tone for awhile but creating more interesting color in the total painting. Hair is a fun place to start introducing unusual color.

BOZZETTO #1 - Neutrals

Today I went to the final class of Watercolor Beyond the Obvious. This is where each participant in the class shows their 20 paintings in sequential order. It is a fun celebration with lots of art affirming moments for each artist and cudos for Mike Bailey, the incredible innovator of this unique class and educator par excellance! It made me wish I had taken the class again, it's so much fun and motivating and reinforced the value of staying with an image to pull out the creativity. If you keep changing the image, you do the same thing but change the image. If you keep the image, you do something different each time. I have taken the class 3 times. Some students have taken it 6 or more times. If I wasn't so busy, I could take it indefinately. My 3 series are posted on my website.

Doing a sheet of bozzettos is another version of beyond the obvious, in miniature. I did this first one after dinner tonight. I had a plan and color scheme decided before I started. I have been going a little wild with color lately and I wanted to start with a neutral color scheme. I used mostly raw umber and ultramarine blue with a little cerulean blue and burnt sienna and a touch of cad red light and quin gold. The darkest darks were ultramarine mixed raw umber. I also worked with a 3/4 inch and half inch flat brush. I normally use a round brush, so I wanted to challenge myself to develop greater mastery over the flat brush.

I was surprised how resistant the surface was to paint in the beginning. I had to really decrease the amount of water to paint. The surface did lift beautifully, however.

Tomorrow is another Beyond the Obvious celebration. The class is so popular, they added a second section. I look forward to more inspiration and comaraderie. A wonderful potluck lunch is an added bonus.